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The core gameplay of Idle Champions revolves around the player selecting "champions" (such as Bruenor, Minsc, and Celeste, among others) to fight waves of increasingly difficult monsters, thereby accumulating gold. This gold is used to upgrade the player's champions, or unlock new ones. The individual champions have both strengths and weaknesses, often improving other champions that meet various criteria. The player needs to figure out a "formation" to place these champions in to ensure progress can be made against higher-level waves of monsters. As players complete objectives, or reset their current adventure, they accumulate "Favor" with a specific deity, which increases the amount of gold they find in subsequent sessions. Furthermore, players can collect items that permanently boost their champions further, either as random drops, or through purchasing "chests" filled with random items.

The game is segmented into several "campaigns", each with its own unique Favor, ensuring progress does not carry over between campaigns. Each campaign has a unique formation pattern, forcing players to rethink how to arrange their champions. Some of the campaigns are permanent, while others are event-based and only available for a short time. These event campaigns often reward unique champions that are only available to unlock during their respective events. All the campaigns are further divided into "adventures", which are narrative frames for the core gameplay, for example recounting how the player's champions help a farmer rescue a farmer's daughter who has been kidnapped by werewolves. Most adventures also have additional challenge modes, unlocked after meeting various criteria. These challenge modes present the player with new obstacles to overcome, for example through limiting the champions available to choose from.

↑The character profile of Drizzt Do'Urden states his age to be 196 years old. Seeing as how he was born in 1297 DR (The Grand History of the Realms, p. 132), Idle Champions must be set in 1493 DR. That being said, the developers have stated they intentionally keep the game's timeline vague, to allow them to pick and choose the characters (or character versions) they want.